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11-05-2009, 03:10 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Petaluma, CA
Posts: 233
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Left tank- HERE I COME!
Aside from having put my sender hole in the wrong spot (too close to stiffening depression in the web) I've got a pile o' parts that should be a tank in a few days. Van's says ditch the cork gasket and go bare proseal and it'll be fine.
I know of the fay sealing method, and the use of tape to keep the proseal where I want it. I have a scale for the proseal as well as lots of gloves and throw away clothing. MEK, Acetone, Dawn. Respirator. Rags.
Any last words of encouragement before I dive into the goo?
__________________
Bill Mason
RV7 SB in construction
Avionics, Wiring, FWF, interior, and paint to go.
Last edited by instructor_bill : 11-12-2009 at 10:36 AM.
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11-05-2009, 03:23 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Litchfield Park, AZ
Posts: 1,019
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Quote:
Originally Posted by instructor_bill
Any last words of encouragement before I dive into the goo?
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NO FEAR!!! 
__________________
Carlos in Arizona
EAA Chapter 538 www.chapters.eaa.org/eaa538
Wittman Tailwind W8 N53CH (built & sold)
Pazmany PL-1 N2029 (bought & sold)
RV7 - N537TC (reserved & building)
Emp, Wings & Fuse done - working on FWF
"The air is an extremely dangerous, jealous and exacting mistress. Once under the spell most lovers are faithful to the end, which is not always old age." - Winston Churchill
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11-05-2009, 06:51 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Bellevue, NE
Posts: 686
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Pre-cut a bunch of blue shop paper towels into ~ 2" x 2" squares. You can dip those little squares into MEK/thinner and clean a spot up and then throw it away. With full sized towels, you'll create more of a mess trying to fold it to a clean spot. Have fun. It's not that bad. -Jim
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11-05-2009, 07:05 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 176
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Git er dun
Quote:
Originally Posted by instructor_bill
Aside from having put my sender hole in the wrong spot (too close to stiffening depression in the web) I've got a pile o' parts that should be a tank in a few days. Van's says ditch the cork gasket and go bare proseal and it'll be fine.
I know of the faye sealing method, and the use of tape to keep the proseal where I want it. I have a scale for the proseal as well as lots of gloves and throw away clothing. MEK, Acetone, Dawn. Respirator. Rags.
Any last words of encouragement before I dive into the goo?
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You've made it this far just keep going. Look at how many people stop at the empennage. At one point I bought a -6A that was already started. I got it at the tank stage and built 2 tanks. It's just a different phase of the build. You can do this.
__________________
David Taylor
RV-7 N207DT
Wings
Warner Robins, GA
"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. "
Elbert Hubbard
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11-06-2009, 11:53 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Tomball, Texas
Posts: 39
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I never had a problem with the smell of pro seal. Some people act like it was worse than anything they have ever smelled. Have they ever changed a diaper? Just measure with a scale and use enough to seal well. Make sure you degrease with MEK and you will not have a problem.
DWConner
RV7A
Wiring in the fuse
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11-06-2009, 01:08 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: 08A
Posts: 9,500
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Quote:
Originally Posted by instructor_bill
Any last words of encouragement before I dive into the goo?
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How about a few pictures worth a thousand words....from an original Essex Chemical Corp publication, "Polysulfide Sealants For Aerospace", circa 1965. Nothing has changed.

__________________
Dan Horton
RV-8 SS
Barrett IO-390
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11-06-2009, 02:46 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lake St. Louis, MO.
Posts: 2,346
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Building leak free fuel tanks is easy.....if you pay attention to the details. Like the experience of most builders, chances are the tanks you build will be leak/fume and trouble free. That said, all too many builders continue to run into needless problems. DO NOT thin the proseal and look carefully at the diagrams Dan provided. Keep those illustrations in mind even when some builders may wrongly insist that encapsulating shop heads of the rivets is not all that necessary. I consider their personal experiences to be nothing more than "luck." Take "luck" out of your personal equation and build the fuel tanks to standards that were long ago were established by dedicated professionals. Above all, have fun.
__________________
Rick Galati
RV6A N307R"Darla!"
RV-8 N308R "LuLu"
EAA Technical Counselor
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11-08-2009, 05:56 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Posts: 107
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Cork Gaskets
I'd ditch the cork gaskets, but use Vyton gaskets. I have a bunch that I'll send you at my cost, along with a disposable punch to make your screw holes. This way if you ever have to get at the fuel senders, it'll be easy.
Drop me a line if interested.
Jack Dekkinga
dekky111@gmail.com
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11-11-2009, 09:43 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Petaluma, CA
Posts: 233
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update on the left tank
the stiffeners are all riveted now... it didn't go perfectly, but the're done as are the cap and drain flanges.
my short back rivet set blew up (the roll pin took a hike somewhere in the garage) and I had to set more than half of the rivets with a flush set and bar. Two stiffeners have over driven rivets and enlarged holes with oversized rivets squeezed to fatten them. I was enraged but pulled through.
Later this afternoon I fay sealed all of the interior ribs and clecoed all of the holes. I didn't get the squeezout that I had expected with the ammount of proseal that I put onto the ribs so went back over the web side with another bead to form a complete fillet seal. Doing this I blew up a freezer bag full of proseal and put a bananna slug size pile of sealer on the web of one of the ribs... the humanity!
After cleaning that up and loading a monoject I finished the rest of the fillets on the web side of the flanges. Not a super clean version of fuel tanks like Rick's, but they'll be fine.
I did notice that I didn't encapsulate the rivets on the stiffeners like I had planned before folding the taco-- now I need to use proseal and a stick in a mirror. I can't hardly wait.
I'll set the rib rivets tomorrow or the next day and then later get to encapsulating the whole lot of rivets and then run another fillet on the flange side of the ribs.
The upside... I didn't get proseal in my hair, on my clothes, or all over my tools.
I do have a question though. Should I treat what looks like a pinhole in a fillet as if it were a void that leads to the open air?
__________________
Bill Mason
RV7 SB in construction
Avionics, Wiring, FWF, interior, and paint to go.
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11-11-2009, 10:10 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: 08A
Posts: 9,500
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Quote:
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Should I treat what looks like a pinhole in a fillet as if it were a void that leads to the open air?
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Yes, absolutely.
__________________
Dan Horton
RV-8 SS
Barrett IO-390
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